Last year, Marvel put out an event
known as “Spider Island”. And it was incredible. In fact, the
only reason it probably wasn’t even more popular was because Fear
Itself was going on at the same time.

I gave a review of some of the issues
during my very short lived Monthly Comic Corner, but here's an
update from anyone who doesn’t want to wade through all the reviews
to find them:

Two of Spiderman’s old villains, The
Jackal and the Spider-Queen, created a virus that would give all of
those infected with it, spider powers. They spread the virus
throughout the entirety of New York, infecting almost all people with
spider powers, just like Spiderman. Why? Not telling. But almost
everyone ---The Avengers, that little old lady across the street,
even animals (according to this book anyway.)--- got to spin some
webs alongside Peter Parker. All cumulating into some incredibly
great and surprising team ups. And a-LOT of spider jokes.

Now, I only read three things from Spider Island, all of which I recommend: The main story, the Venom
sub-plot, and the one-shot, Spider Island: I love New York!

The comic is an anthology, giving
us 4 different stories and a closer look at some of the civilians of
New York during the outbreak. Their all fun little stories, each with
different artist and writes. Lets take a look!

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“A Sense”

Written by Greg Rucka, drawn by Max
Fiumara, and Colored by Fabio D’auria

I'd make a funny tag line, but the crooks did it for me:

We enter a bank to find several
spider-empowered people decided to take up a life of crime, webbing
up everyone and demanding all the money they have. They also web up some of the people in the face, intending to sufficate them

One of the
innocent bystanders tells them they won’t get always with this...
famous last words, right?

One of the thieves webs a bus from
outside and with one hand, he pulls and crashes the bus into the
bank, showing off his strength, for no other reason then to be a jack
ass.

Down at the vault, the thieves easily
rip open the door. As they pile cash into bags, laughing, one of
thieves, Bull, lurches over, feeling sick.

He tells Gordo to go outside on look
out, while he burns up. The feeling gets so intense, he has to take
off his mask. He asks the others if they feel the same the same. That
sickening feeling, like butterflies, like ... like...

Gordo comes back, looking a little more muscular then
he was before...

The leader agrees, saying that’s
exactly what it feels like, and the other two agree. They feel
relieved at first, not noticing the obvious elephant in the room.

Gordo suddenly holds up a gun and
shoots all three dead. He rips off the costume, revealing the
punisher symbol.

----------------------

“A Sense” is gritty and witty...
Did... not mean to rhyme that. I really loved the artwork here. I’m a
big fan of art that stretches and squashes the figures to give a more
dynamic feel. And the gritty look of the art give you a similar
“sense” to what will happen to the thieves.

The reveal of
the Punisher caught me off guard. When I was expecting a one-shot, I
wasn’t expecting such a strong cameo.

----------------------

"Spider Mom"

Written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, drawn
by Chuck BB

Jane is a very busy woman. She has to
balance cooking, cleaning, groceries, work and her two kids, while
her husband is on a business trip out of town. But luckily, her life
is like a woman’s purse. Wait, what?

We start off with Jane, rushing to the
subway, jamming her foot into the door to keep it from closing. The
door opens, revealing her son, who ran ahead of her and almost got on
the wrong train. Later, she’s speaking to her husband over the
phone, trying not to sound TOO jealous that he’s currently in Paris
without her, and doesn’t notice a few kids stealing her celery.

After finding the celery gone, she
gives up on supper and warms up some pizzas. But evening naps are
interrupted when the fire alarm goes off. Jane rushes to the stove,
which she had left on. She opens the tries to turn off the detector.
Meanwhile, her two kids are fighting by the window over a toy.

For a split second, Jane tries to
relax, with the alarm now off.

And then her daughter Edie, falls out the window.

Jane panics, staring helplessly.

Spider Powers activate! Boy, talk about
your duex ex machinas.

Jane suddenly finds life much easier
with spider powers. Cleaning is a breeze when she can lift the couch
over her head. She can skip the subway, the elevator.

Oh, the purse metaphor? Well, Jane
tells it pretty well.

And by "expand", she means "goes
super hero on us an saves her kids from and obvious pedo in a spider
suit". With fight skills Batman and Robin would be proud off, Jane
knocks the schmuck out on his butt with the aforementioned full purse.

Biff!

The neighbourhood kids are
impressed. So much that they present Jane with...

Only in comics, people.

Jane continues to adjust to life, even
when her purse continues to expand... making room for spider powered
kids.

Oy.

----------------------

Spider Mom had me laughing my head off.
It’s silly but it’s fun. I hear “mom stories” all the time,
and this pretty much covers everything. And with myself being a woman
with a gigantic purse, I can vouch for the metaphor. Some of the
dialogue from the kids was just too cute, as they react to their new
situation.

The artwork is cute, going more for the
children's book look, but still looking serious enough during more
darker moments. (Edie falling out the widow, the appearance of
Spider-creep, etc).

----------------------

“Charlotte's webs”

Written by Joe Caramagna, Drawn by Max
Fiumara and colored by Fabio D’auria

While the heroes are busy in central
park, (battling evil spider-men) two amateur robbers, Melinda and Eddie, wearing vintage Black Cat and Dr. Octopus masks, have broken in to a home and tied up
a wife and husband. Melinda (aka: Eddies nagging
wife) bickers about what they should do next. They suddenly hear a sound.

They head to investigate, while the
husband tries to undo the ropes.

The two robbers slink into the hallway
and we see exactly who they’re dealing with.

A little girl. With super powers. In the Marvel Universe.

They are so doomed.

The little girl, Charlotte, easily
takes away their gun, and leas the thieves on a wild goose chase
through the house, while pulling off some incredible stunts at the
same time. Huh. She's really good for a newbie. I wonder why...

Heh. Subtle.

Dumb and Dumber continues through the
house, seeing the hallway is now filled with nets of spider webs.
Wifey figures out that this isn’t Spiderman, this is an amateur
thief with new spider powers, looking to make a score, just like they
are--- Powers corrupt.

At that moment, Charlotte makes a
return, giving Eddie and Melinda another beating.

Tell me your not grinning?

Meanwhile, the parents are finally
free! Charlottes father runs to the living room... and finds the two
dimwits webbed up by their ankles.

Charlotte finally comes out of hiding.
She heard what Melinda said about powers corrupting people, and asks
if that was why she’s not allowed to use her powers. She tried to
be careful and not hurt the thieves, but is worried she’s going to
turn evil. Her father comforts her and tells her that she won’t
turn evil because she knows “that with great power comes great
responsibility”

Say it with me now:

“Awwwwwww”

The moment is ruined by Melinda,
freaking out that a child did this to them. And Eddie promptly tells
her to shut up.

----------------------

"Charlotte's Web" is my favourite of the
four. I’ve always loved the Marvel stories involving children
(Young avengers, Runaways, X-23, Childhood’s End), because Marvel
has this tendency to make children seem even more bad-ass then their
adult counterparts. And here is no different. Unlike Spiderman, who
would pause to make a few jokes, Charlotte has only one thought in
mind “Stop the as quickly and painfully as possible” and it shows.
Even Kevin from Home Alone wasn’t this quick on his feet.

The art is much like “A Sense” with
the dynamic angles and stretch and squash characters.

But unlike “a
sense”, Charlotte's web is much less gritty, and uses expressions
as well as body language to convey the story. There is a lot of
subtlety to Charlottes face, as she literally bounces off the walls.

A little white cat is taking a little
“stroll” today. Stealing a fish form a sweet old lady, exploring
alleyways... walking up a lamppost...

As you can tell, this ain’t no
ordinary alley cat. This is Spider Cat. And he’s about to get a
visitor:

VENOM PIGEON!

The two battle it out, Spider Cat yells
a few jokes, claws the birds’ face, but is once again thrown back.
The two continue to fight, Venom Pigeon slowly knocking off each one
of Spider Cat’s lives, as a group of rats look on.

Finally, the battle is over, with one
life to spare. Spider Cat tries to relax. And then finds himself
surrounded by hundreds of Venom Pigeons. As the venom army swoops
down, we hear:

Turns out, it was all just a video
game, played by three spider powered friends, who are adjusting
pretty well to their new powers.

Heh. He said doodie.

While they discuss take out plans,
their pet cat rolls off the speakers of their tv and pats his way to
the window... showing the audience a glimpse of his secret identity...

The comic ends with Spider Cat swinging
across the city.

----------------------

“9 lives”... Isn't my favorite. Yes, its a good story. Yes, I really love the art, mainly how
Venom Pigeon is drawn--the fast looking brushwork and bright colors. And I love the idea these two characters. I totally want to see these two in an issue of the Pet
Avengers!

However... it's just not my kind of
story. I’m not big on stories that go, “OH, it was fake but it
wasn’t.” I personally just find it more of an annoying story
telling device then something cleaver. The story all took place in a
video game, but then we find out, no, Spider Cat is real!... Meh.
That, and I found the story a little too short for my taste.

However, for what it is, it’s really good.
My gripes are personal and nit-picky-- nothing more.

----------------------

Overall a really, really good issue. Gives you
a taste of "Spider Island", so you know if you want to check out the
main series or not, and gives a glimpse further into the island of
spider powered new Yorkers. The stories are fun, but each offers
something a little different.

Okay, that’s it for now. So, what’s
next?

Well, um, I am going to be swamped with
work the rest of the week, and so that I'm not rushing to get my next article done, the next post will be... uh... a Slug
Trails post....

Aahh! Don’t hurt me! Not in the face! Not in the
face!

This Slug Trails will be a little different. I’ll be taking
look at more web-comics, however instead of just posting the link and
a short summary, I’m going to post a miniature, not spoiler review
of each comic I look at. I love webcomic and I want to do what I can
to help new people to find what they want.

Seeya,

Tegan Dumpleton aka SlugLady28

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Credits

Whew, it's done. Again, sorry about the late post... and for completely forgetting to tell you all sooner. And for, uh, depressing anyone when I said that the Sketch-Log doesn't take priority in my life. Don't worry, it does. I love working on this site. Unfortunately... I'm currently in a position where when something major in my work or home life comes up, it has to take precedence...

As much as my little work Gremlin in the corner tells me otherwise. *grumbles*